Guldian
Guldian /gul.dian/ (GUHL-deeahn), also known as Swalswal and Dianswal is an Orbital Ring that circles 80km above the planet Trowo. It is perhaps the most important single structure on (or above) the planet, contributing directly or indirectly to over 60% of its Gross Product. Taking over 35 years to assemble, it is indispensable in terms of space launch to Low-Orbit and beyond, as well as receiving people and goods from other celestial bodies. History and Etymology Guldian comes from the Unitican words Guld meaning "world" or "home" and Dian which means "one" or "first". It was one of the first megastructures proposed by the Society of Astroengineers (now the Astroengineer Corps, Dexousyhyanajen So'Omis) even before year 0 as a cheap and efficient method to transport and receiving items into orbit. As it does not rely on advanced materials (other than superconductors), it was considered as one of the primary structures to be built after the reconstruction of cities after the war. The first segments of Guldian were assembled above Suaes funded by the taxpayers of United Trowo in the year 17. Launches delivering parts of the ring were heavily protested against in the first 3 years of construction on grounds that those funds would be better utilized rebuilding smaller cities. Syailrithan Spaceport One and Acha Gateway were sabotaged by the group Lives and Lives for Shelter First and progress was slowed for over 4 years, as only Kýyomi Spaceport and Nganga Stairway remained available for space launches. The main prograde cable was completed after 12 years, after which the stationary platform over Hénsen was completed. Hénsen was chosen due to its fortifiable position against the remaining protestors The first elevator link section to Hénsen was completed in just 6 months, after which construction progressed exponentially. The main retrograde cable was completed in 2 years and further extensions to the main cables were completed in year 31. The main ring and elevator/tether structures were announced to be complete in the year 48, with 3 major platforms over Suaes, Syailrithan and Hénsen. Ringports were added sequentially to the platform, with a maglev spanning the whole ring being completed in the year 50. With the cities of Futura, Acha, Khakhahan, Nganga and Indiraman connected in the year 51, it was deemed featurally complete. Structure Guldian is made of 4 main components, the cables, the anchors, the platform and the riders. 'Cables' The structures that are collectively known as cables of the ring are the Prograde cable and the Retrograde cable. These cables orbit seperately from one another, and are made of alloyed copper and stainless steel. They are individually 1m in diameter, made of even smaller thinner cables wound up to provide for extra tensile strength. A strong electric current is pass through them, which causes them to generate an magnetic field. The cables weigh in total over 700 million tons, and are kept in orbit due to their speed of rotation, which is faster than required for their orbit. This excess centrifugal force is balanced by the weight of the platform and riders, and provides stability in tandem with the anchors. 'Anchors' The anchors are structures that hold the orbital ring down to the ground and serve as a means of access to the orbital ring. By keeping the anchors taunt against the centrifugal force of the ring, it achieves stability - i.e. its center of mass is exactly at Trowo's center of mass, and will not deviate away from it. If there are no anchors, a tiny perturbation will result in one side of the ring crashing into Trowo. The anchors also serve as elevators. These elevators, which are known as climbers to differentiate them from space elevators, move up carbon fiber wires which have been lined with steel. They provide electrical power to the climber, which comes from power plants on the orbital ring itself. Depending on the specific climber, loads up to 50 tons can be carried. They move at approximately 200km/h and take around half an hour to reach the orbital ring. The anchors which also contain at least 5 climbers are located on the cities Acha, Futura, Indiraman, Hénsen, Khakhahan, Nganga, Suaes and Syailrithan. Anchors without climbers are also present over the Sentoriae Ocean and the Great Eastern Ocean. 'Platform' The platform consists of multiple rings of high temperature superconductors that encircle the cables, and the flat structure that sits above the superconducting rings. Due to the Meissner Effect, the rings are held in place perpendicularly to the cables due the magnetic field produced by the cables. This means that while the cables are moving extremely quickly with respect to the surface of Trowo, the superconducting rings and the platform on it are stationary. Any object placed on the platform does not experience free-fall, and so experiences the sensation of gravity. These superconducting rings are at the forefront of technology and can transition into a superconductive state at -70'°'''C based on non-rare earth cuprates. They are maintain at that temperature by pumping liquid nitrogen around them. They are however laid down layer-by-layer by nanomachines and are extremely expensive to replace should they break. The rings also provide a near-vacuum environment for the cables to orbit without air resistance, therefore allowing them to spin for over 4-5 months before requiring boosts. At 1000km intervals in the platforms, there are also boostings rings that produce their magnetic fields that speed up or slow down the cables as is necessary in order to maintain the stability of the orbital ring. 'Riders' The riders are the live and dead loads that occupy the platforms. They refer to people, vehicles, orbital ports and miscellaneous structures on the platform. Over 4 million people and 170 million robots reside at the orbital ring everyday, and nearly 100 million utilize it either for transport or work. Orbital ports are a special category of spaceports that require departing and arriving spaceships to contend with gravity, therefore not all spaceships are able to dock there. They mainly accomodate smaller crafts used by the less well-off that dock at larger, warp-capable ships orbiting Trowo at a higher orbit. The maglev train, the ''Nalohhènkruz, also ferries passengers from city platform to city platform. It is the main use of the orbital ring which services 70 million people and countless rider robots a day. There are 10 tracks, 5 prograde and 5 retrograde, which carry over 10 000 trains. 'Miscellaneous' On the Northern 2a Platform near Suaes is a gravity-to-electricity generator, known locally as a Cascade. It is essentially a lift that only carries material downward, and in the process converts gravitational potential energy into electrical energy. Due to the Cascade serving the Alden district, which is involved in asteroid processing, the amount of energy produced here is non-negligible and in fact accounts for 3% of the energy consumption of Alden. The orbital ring is also heavily armored to prevent terrorism, as a break in one point may lead to the catastrophic failure of the entire ring. Platforms and junctures over heavily trafficked and populated area are also shielded for extra protection. This was in part spurred by the uncovering of plans by the Lives and Lives for Shelter First, which had denoted means of using railguns and surface-to-space missiles to take down the orbital ring. Numerous solar farms also dot the ring, which provide up to 15TW of power (usually fluctating between 6-9TW based on which power plants being on the night side of Trowo), which provide the power needed to stabilized the ring, service the ring and also provide cheap electricity for cities it services. Notable Junctures Note: The stops and junctures listed here are due east, starting from Suaes Terminus Stop 1: Suaes Terminus Stop 2: Suaes North Platform Juncture 2-3: Far East and South Orbital Spaceport (U-ju ''/ ''Ódstep) Stop 3: Antarakish Platform Stop 4: Acha Platform Juncture 4-5: Far East Spacesport (Jagya) Stop 5: Hénsen Platform Juncture 5-6: Far Eastern Sea Solar Farm Stop 6: Kýyomi Platform Juncture 6-6.5: Kýyomi Spaceport Hangar Juncture 6.5-7: Great Eastern Ocean Solar Farm and Ocean Surveillance Site Platform 7: Yilxento Platform Juncture 7-8: Far West Spaceport (Digirahli) Platform 8: Sento Rahil Platform Juncture 8-9: Mid-Western Solar Farm and Rainforest Observatory Platform 9: Futura Platform Juncture 9-9.5: Futura East Solar Farm Juncture 9.5-10: Konavue Ocean Solar Farm and Ocean Surveillance Site Platform 10: Konavue Marine Platform and Konavue Orbital Spaceport (Konavue Dexousyhyalyn) Platform 11: Syailrithan Platform Juncture 11-12: South Orbital Spaceport (Oron Czai) Platform 12: Khakhahan Platform Juncture 12-1: Southern Solar Farm Future Expansion There are plans to add to Guldian 2 more prograde tracks and the expansion of the Far East and South and Konavue Orbital Spaceports. Category:United Trowo Category:Trowo